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Putin Is Feeling The Squeeze
How long can he stand this?
As Putin’s absurd invasion of Ukraine draws on, the West must find a way to bring the barbaric bloodshed to a close. But, when it comes to Russia and their belligerent, expansionist, and Soviet-loving government, such resolutions are few and far between. Putin and his posse of yes-men are happy to lock themselves in their high tower and command every man and boy to fight on until each and every one of them is dead and gone. However, at the end of last year, we found a way to hurt Putin where it really hurts — his oil industry — and went in for the kill. Now, the Kremlin is losing billions of dollars, draining the Russian war machine and its economy of funds, and it is only set to get worse from here on out. The question is, “How long can Putin survive this fiscal onslaught?”
This fossil-fuel coup de grâce came from the G7. Each member of the G7 (the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan) agreed to place a price cap on Russian oil of $60 per barrel starting on December 5th, 2022. This was a genius move, given that they couldn’t outright ban Russian oil, as it would cause yet another energy crisis due to supply falling short of demand, but it would still hurt Putin. However, before this cap, Russian oil traded for $70 per barrel, so many were sceptical of how effective it would be.
